26 WHITE 



stay often till the middle of October ; and once I saw numbers 

 of house-martins on the /th November. The martins and red- 

 wing fieldfares were flying in sight together, an uncommon 

 assemblage of summer and winter birds ! 



A little yellow bird 1 (it is either a species of the alauda tri- 

 vialis, or rather perhaps of the motacilla trochilus) still con- 

 tinues to make a sibilous shivering noise in the tops of tall 

 woods. The stoparola of Ray (for which we have as yet no 

 name in these parts) is called in your zoology the fly-catcher. 

 There is one circumstance characteristic of this bird which 

 seems to have escaped observation, and that is, it takes its stand 

 on the top of some stake or post, from whence it springs forth 

 on its prey, catching a fly in the air, and hardly ever touching 

 the ground, but returning still to the same stand for many times 

 together. 2 



I perceive there are more than one species of the motacilla 

 trochilus. Mr. Derham supposes, in " Ray's Philos. Letters," 

 that he has discovered three. In these there is again an in- 

 stance of some very common birds that have as yet no English 

 name. 



Mr. Stillingfleet makes a question whether the black-cap 

 {motacilla atricapilld) be a bird of passage or not 8 : I think 

 there is no doubt of it : for, in April, in the first fine weather, 

 they come trooping all at once, into these parts, but are never 

 seen in the winter. They are delicate songsters. 



Numbers of snipes breed every summer in some moory 

 ground on the verge of this parish. It is very amusing to see 

 the cock bird on wing at that time, and to hear his piping and 

 humming notes. 4 



I have had no opportunity yet of procuring any of those 

 mice which I mentioned to you in town. The person that 

 brought me the last says they are plenty in harvest, at which 

 time I will take care to get more ; and will endeavor to put 

 the matter out of doubt, whether it be a nondescript species 

 or not. 



I suspect much there may be two species of water-rats. 5 Ray 

 says, and Linnaeus after him, that the water-rat is web-footed 

 behind. Now I have discovered a rat on the banks of our little 

 stream that is not web-footed, and yet is an excellent swimmer 



